Fire extinguishing apparatus



Oct. 5, 1965 M. A. FREEDMAN 3,209,837

FIRE EXTINGUISHING APPARATUS Filed May 16, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Alllulllllllruv INVENTOR 26 Mon-ran A.F'IZEEDMAM z 7/ Ly, K22

ATTORNEYS Oct. 5, 1965 A. FREEDMAN 3,209,837

FIRE EXTINGUISHING APPARATUS Filed May 16, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR MORTON A. FREEDMAN WWBYMKM ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,209,837 FIRE EXTINGUISHING APPARATUS Morton A. Freedman, 21691 Kenosha Ave., Oak Park, Mich. Filed May 16, 1963, Ser. No. 280,880 15 Claims. (Cl. 169-42) This invention relates to a fire extinguishing apparatus and more particularly to a device of this character that is particularly adapted for use in conjunction with a hood structure mounted over an area where combustion may likely occur such as the top of a stove, a laboratory heating device, etc.

The occurrence of stove top fires in kitchens is not an uncommon occurrence. In many such kitchens, a hood structure is mounted over the stove top to collect fumes, odors, etc. emanating from the product being prepared on the stove. I have devised a fire extinguishing device admirably adapted for use with such hood structures to extinguish a fire that might develop in the area which the hood structure overlies.

The object of this invention is to eliminate the danger of such fires causing considerable damage. This is accomplished by providing a roll of inexpensive heat-resistant material such as metal foil having a powder material, such as baking soda, adapted to extinguish a fire, loosely retained within the convolutions of the roll, the roll being anchored to the hood structure at the outer end of the sheet so that when released, it unwinds in a downward direction to disperse a fog of the powder material over the area which the hood overlies and thereby extinguish a fire which may have ignited at such area.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a stove and a hood structure therefor which incorporates the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the hood structure of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an end view of the fire extinguishing roll of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view illustrating one form of roll releasing means according to the invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view illustrating another form of roll releasing means according to the invention.

FIG. 6 is a further modification of the invention illustrating the simplest form which the invention may take.

In FIG. 1, the numeral 10 generally designates a stove, the top 12 of which is provided with a plurality of burners or heating elements 14. Above the stove, there is supported by any suitable means a hood 16 having a top wall 18, two side walls 20 and front and rear walls 22 and 24, respectively. Adjacent the lower edges of the front and rear walls 22 and 24, there are hingedly supported within the hood structure a pair of shelf-like members 26. Each member 26 has a hinge connection as at 28 with a lower edge of the respective wall on which it is supported and each member 26 has a bottom wall 30 which inclines upwardly as at 32 along the edge thereof remote from the hinge connection 28. The members 26 are provided with end walls 34 at each end. The dimensions of members 26 are such that they can be pivoted upwardly about the hinge connection 28 to a position nested within the hood structure as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Suitable means are provided for retaining the shelf-like members 26 in the upwardly hinged or nested position illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5.

In the showing of FIG. 4, these means are in the form of flexible elements such as wires or the like 36 which are extended through a pair of eye supports 38 with the ends of the flexible elements 36 interconnected by a heat re-. sponsive element 40. The element 40 may take any of "ice several forms. This element may be in the form of a combustible heat fusible member which simply melts and permits the wires 36 to part or it may comprise a thermostatic element which mechanically releases wires 36. In any event, the member 40 is designed such that when it is subjected to a predetermined high temperature, it releases wires 36 and causes the two shelf-like members 26 to swing downwardly under the influence of gravity about the hinge connections 28 to the positions shown in FIG. 1.

In the showing of FIG. 5, the two shelf-like members 26 are interconnected by wires 42 which in turn are connected to a flexible actuating element such as a wire or cable 44 that passes through one end wall 20 of the hood structure as at 46. The actuating element 42 is designed to pass through an eyelet 48' and extend to a position remote from the hood structure as at the trailing end 50 thereof to be hooked onto a retaining hook, not illustrated. In the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 5, if a fire should occur on the stove top 12, then the trailing end 50 of the actuating element is manually released which causes the two shelf-like members 26 to swing downwardly to the position illustrated in FIG. 1.

The essence of the present invention resides in the specific fire extinguishing means employed in connection with the hood structure 16. These means are in the form of a roll 52. Roll 52 is preferably formed of a sheet of flexible, dead soft fire resistant material such as metal foil. The sheet is rolled up and in the process of rolling up the sheet to form the roll 52, a layer of powder material 54 such as baking soda or any other powder having the ability to smother a fire when dispersed thereover is incorporated between the successive convolutions of the roll. In forming a roll such as illustrated at 52, the sheet material is laid in the flat and a layer of the fire extinguishing powder is spread thereover. Thereafter, the sheet is rolled up so that the powder material 54 is loosely retained between the convolutions of the roll. The outer end of roll 52 is preferably provided with a reinforcing member 56 that is adapted to be secured to the hood structure as at 58. The rolls 52 are otherwise unsupported within hood structure 16. In other words, the rolls 52 simply rest on the shelf-like members 26 with the outer ends of each roll sheet anchored to the hood structure as at 58. With this arrangement, it will be appreciated that when the shelf-like members 26 are released, either automatically by means of the heat responsive element 40 or by manually releasing the flexible element 50, the two members 26 will swing downwardly about hinge connections 28 and thereby cause the two rolls 52 to unwind in a downward direction by, reason of gravity. As the rolls 52 unwind, the fire extinguishing powder 54 retained between the convolutions thereof is thrown and dispersed laterally and downwardly by this unwinding action as a cloud throughout the space which the hood overlies. In this manner, it smothers the fire which may have ignited on the stove top. If desired, leaf springs 59 may be fastened to the hood structure with one end thereof pressing downwardlyon the shelflike members 26 so that when the members 26 are released, their downward swinging movement will be accelerated by the action of leaf springs 59. A more violent dispersal of the fire extinguishing powder 54 may thus be obtained.

In FIG. 6, I have illustrated what is probably the most simple form of fire extinguishing apparatus in accordance with this invention. In this modification, the roll 52 is retained in the rolled form by being bound with a burnable cord 60 such as twine or the like. Roll 52 may, if desired, be provided with the reinforcement 56 along one edge thereof. The form of roll shown in FIG. 6

also comprises the replaceable cartridge or roll for use with the hood structure shown in FIGS. 1 through 5. If desired, the shelf-like members 26 might be eliminated and the burnable cord 60 used in place thereof. With the latter arrangement, the rolls 52 would unwind when the cords 50 burned through 'to release the rolls.

Thus, it will be seen that I have provided a fire extinguishing apparatus that is economical and positive in its action. It does not involve the use of many mechanical parts and thus is substantially fool-proof in its operation. Furthermore, it is adapted to be employed in conjunction with new or existing hood structures over kitchen stoves and in no way detracts from the appearance of the hood structure because it is substantially concealed when retained in position ready for extinguishing afire.

I claim:

1. Fire extinguishing apparatus comprising a thin sheet of fire resistant material in the form of a loosely wound roll, a fire extinguishing material in powder form loosely retained between the convolutions of the roll, means supporting the roll horizontally, means anchoring the outer end of the sheet and means for moving said support means from supporting relation to the roll whereby to permit the roll to unwind and by said unwinding action disperse said powder material over an area substantially greater than that occupied by said wound up roll.

2. Fire extinguishing apparatus as called for in claim 1 wherein said support means comprises a pivotally supported shelf-like member and means for retaining the shelf-like member in a generally horizontally disposed position.

3. Fire extinguishing apparatus as called for in claim 2 wherein the means for moving the support means comprises means for actuating said shelf-retaining means to permit the shelf-like member to pivot downwardly under the influence of gravity.

4. Fire extinguishing apparatus as called for in claim 1 wherein said means for moving said support means are of the manually actuated type.

5. Fire extinguishing apparatus as called for in claim 1 wherein said means for moving said support means includes a release member responsive to a predetermined high temperature to release said support means.

6. In a hood structure adapted to be supported above an area where combustion may likely occur, the combination of a support mounted on the hood for movement from a supporting position to a non-supporting position, means for retaining said support in said supporting position, a sheet of fire resistant material wound into a roll and supported on said support means, said roll being of relatively small diameter relative to the overall dimensions of said hood andsaid area, a fire extinguishing powder loosely retained between the convolutions of the roll, the outer end of the roll being anchored to the hood structure and means for releasing said support means to thereby cause the roll to unwind in a downward direction and thereby forcibly disperse said powder over said area.

7. A hood structure as called for in claim 6 wherein said release means is manually operable.

8. A hood structure as called for in claim 6 wherein said release means comprises a heat responsive member 4 adapted to release the support when the temperature thereof exceeds a predetermined maximum value.

9. In a hood structure adapted to be supported over an area where combustion may likely occur, the combination of a flexible sheet of fire resistant material Wound into a roll with its outer end anchored to the hood structure, said roll being of relatively small diameter relative to the overall dimensions of said hood and said area, a fire extinguishing material in the form of a powder loosely retained between the convolutions of the roll, means retaining the sheet in roll form and adapted to be released to permit the roll to unwind downwardly and thereby forcibly disperse the powder material over said area.

10. In combination, a hood adapted to be mounted above an area where a fire may likely occur, a flexible sheet of fire resistant material wound into a roll and having its outer end anchored to the hood structure, said roll being of relatively small diameter relative to the overall dimensions of said hood and said area, a fire extinguishing material in powder form loosely retained between the convolutions of the roll and releasable means for supporting said sheet in said roll form within the hood structure such that when the last mentioned means are released, the roll unwinds downwardly from within the hood structure and forcibly disperses the powder material over the area which the hood overlies.

11. The combination called for in claim 10 wherein said releasable means includes a heat responsive element which, when heated to a predetermined high temperature, is adapted to release the roll.

12. The combination called for in claim 10 wherein said last mentioned means comprises a support mounted on the hood structure for movement from a roll supporting position to a non-supporting position, means for retaining said support in said r-oll supporting position and means for releasing said retaining means to move said support to said non-supporting position.

13. The combination called for in claim 12 wherein said support comprises a shelf-like member hinged to said hood structure to swing downwardly when released.

14. The combination called for in claim 13 wherein said release means are adapted to be actuated in response to being heated to a predetermined high temperature.

15. The combination called for in claim 13 wherein said release means are adapted to be manually actuated.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 144,625 11/73 McAllister 169-1 512,927 1/ 94 Welker 16926 886,968 5/08 Fuller 169-1 1,277,794 9/18 Walsh 169-1 1,312,716 8/19 Wise 11722 2,340,370 2/44 Doyle 1692 2,598,273 5/52 Kromer 1692 FOREIGN PATENTS 313,126 7/ 19 Germany.

EVERETT W. KIRBY, Primary Examiner. EUGENE F. BLANCHARD, Examiner. 

1. FIRE EXTINGUISHING APPARATUS COMPRISING A THIN SHEET OF FIRE RESISTANT MATERIAL IN THE FORM OF A LOOSELY WOUND ROLL, A FIRE EXTINGUISHING MATERIAL IN POWER FORM LOOSELY RETAINED BETWEEN THE CONVOLUTIONS OF THE ROLL, MEANS SUPPORTIG THE ROLL HORIZONTALLY, MANS ANCHORING THE OUTER END OF THE SHEET AND MEANS FOR MOVING SAID SUPPORT MEANS FROM SUPPORTING RELATION TO THE ROLL WHEREBY TO PERMIT THE ROLL TO UNWIND AND BY SAID UNWINDING ACTION DISPERSE 